Freakn' Cougar (12 page)

“Alone?”

With her enhanced eyesight, she had no problem seeing the frown on Ricky’s face, and Stu seemed none too pleased either. “It’s not like I can ask the other guards for help.”

“It’s not safe.”

“It’s my job.”

“Then take us with you.”

Her first impulse was to say no. She worked alone, but Stu added his two cents before she could voice a word.

“He’s right. There’s something not right about the whole camera thing.”

“Obviously, which is why I need to get to the others to check on them before something happens.”

“Not alone. It’s too dangerous.” Ricky stuck to his stubborn he-man claim.

“Have you forgotten what I do for a living? I’m trained to take down criminals.”

“Humans, usually, with a gun. What do you have right now? A baton? What if the perp is a shifter like us? Or is armed? How will you handle it alone?”

Ricky made valid points, but what else did he expect her to do, sit around twiddling her thumbs? The whole purpose of their mission was for them to catch the culprit. She’d hoped they could do it via investigative work that would have led them to the perp outside of jail, where a squad of shifters could help out. Alas, they still didn’t have a clue, but if she could catch the murderer red-handed, she could end this tonight. “I am not going to hide and let the killer strike.”

“Then take me with you,” Ricky boldly said.

“I can’t take you with me,” she sputtered. “You’re prisoners. If anyone sees me with you, you’ll blow your cover.”

“Better we blow our cover than send you off alone to possibly confront a killer.”

“I’ll be fine. Whoever it is hasn’t attacked guards before. Just inmates.” She was bluffing. She had no idea if any guards had died. They’d only really researched inmate deaths. It never occurred to them to look beyond the walls of the prison.

Apparently, Ricky had put more thought into this than she had.
“The killer is going after shifters. We don’t know that they’ll make a distinction between guard and prisoner. I, for one, don’t want to take that chance. Open this door and take me with you.”

For some reason, his acute observation about the possibility of the killer going after any shifter, inmate or not, pissed her off.
Who’s the cop here?
“No.”

“Don’t push me on this,
bebé
.” Ricky’s eyes flashed yellow as his temper flared to the surface.

“Are you giving me an ultimatum?” She pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t take well to orders. Even well-meaning ones.

“Yes. I am.”

She laughed. “And how do you plan on enforcing it? In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re behind bars. What’s to stop me from walking away?”

“Are you that determined and stubborn to spite me that you would prefer to put yourself in harm’s way than accept my help?”

Yes!
Even she saw how illogical that was. But she suspected an ulterior motive. “You want more than just to help me.”

“True. I won’t lie. I mean to claim you. Just like the wolf here intends to place his mark when you allow him to.”

“When she’s ready,” Stu interjected, having acted as a silent observer to their argument ’til this point.

At least the wolf had the common sense not to push her buttons. Stu understood her. “Will you wait until I am ready as well?” She arched a brow in query.

“No.” A sensual smile stretched Ricky’s lips, and his eyes practically glowed as he caught her gaze. The more they stood staring at each other, caught in a face off, the more golden they turned. Dizzying. Full of promises. And delights … She blinked first. Ricky grinned in triumph. “Unlike my young friend, I am not a man who waits on the whimsy of others. I see what I want, and I take it. And I definitely want you.”

She couldn’t help how her skin prickled, especially when he raked a smoldering gaze over her body that left no part of her untouched. He threw down the gauntlet, and she should have exploded into a fury. Instead, heat flooded her body as a part of her, a submissive girly part she would have claimed didn’t exist—and immediately wanted to slap silly—exploded with pleasure and ached for him to act on his words. She squashed it as best she could, but feared he’d caught the rise in her body’s temperature by the knowing half smirk on his lips. “Take it? I thought you’d turned over a new leaf? No more stealing and taking things that don’t belong to you.”

“It is not theft to take what is rightfully mine.”

“I’m not yours.”

“Yet.”

Curse the flood of moisture his words brought. “You’re an arrogant prick.”

“I agree. Now let me out of here. Time is wasting while we discuss the inevitable.”

“And how am I supposed to explain wandering around the prison with a pair of prisoners?”

“You won’t have to, but they might want to know how the dangerous panther and wolf got in.”

She blinked, sure she’d misunderstood. “Excuse me, but I thought I heard you say you want to go as your animals?”

“I did. We’ll track better if we do.”

“What of the prisoners? Not all of them are sleeping,” she hissed, having a hard time keeping her voice down. Instinct said the occupants in the cells nearest to them slumbered, but who knew who listened? And what they’d say.

“Who is going to believe them when they claim they saw a wolf, a panther, and a cougar roaming the halls.”

“I can’t go as my cat.”

“Why not?”

“Locked doors in our path, or have you forgotten where we are?” she snapped.

“Good point. You stay dressed and take care of any locks. I’ll take point while Stu guards our rear.”

“You have this all planned out.”

His cocky grin should have merited a slap, but almost got a kiss. It was crazy how much he appealed with his macho demands and domineering treatment. Used to fighting male chauvinism on a daily basis, a part of her couldn’t understand why it turned her on. Was it the fact she had to act so tough all the time that made her crave it? She’d have to analyze that later. They’d spent too much time arguing. If he wanted to blow their cover, then so be it. At least if he got removed then she wouldn’t have to face him every day, and then maybe she could go back to her sterile—lonely—existence.

Ha. As if that would happen. The cat—known as lust and need—was out of the bag, and it was going to get some satisfaction. Whether Patricia liked it or not.

“You’d better behave,” she admonished as she sorted through her jangling set of keys.

Like that would happen. Ricky couldn’t believe his arguing had worked. Despite her evident desire not to, Patricia set them loose. But the click and clanking as she opened their cell brought attention to them. Even though the other prisoners couldn’t see in the dark, it didn’t prevent them from calling out.

“Someone’s getting lucky,” a voice sang out.

“Come on over here and set me free. I’ll pay you. I’ve got money.”

A face pressed against the bars right across from them. The beady-eyed prisoner smacked his lips and uttered a disgusting, “Lucky bastard. What I wouldn’t give to tap that fine, fucking ass.”

It took Ricky only two long strides to reach the speaker. Reaching through the bars, he grabbed a hold of the guy with the foul mouth and slammed his face against them, once, twice. The now silent prisoner slid to the floor.

“Was that really necessary?” Patricia hissed.

“Yes. I didn’t want him kicking up a fuss and alerting any of the guards.” Not the entire truth. No one spoke of his woman like that in his hearing. To his surprise, the wolf backed him up.

“If he hadn’t done it, I would have. That’s no way to talk to a lady.”

Her jaw dropped at Stu’s words, and Ricky couldn’t help but smile as he used a finger to push it shut. “Save that look for later when I show you something truly amazing. Let’s go find ourselves a killer.”

Stripping out of their prison wear, it took only moments to shift into their beasts, the dark color of their fur blending in better with the shadows than their prison oranges would have.

Mumbling under her breath about “Moon madness makes me do the stupidest things,” Patricia took off at a brisk walk.

Despite the sweet view of her ass as she strutted, Ricky slipped by her to take the lead, all his senses on alert for danger or anything out of the ordinary. As he slunk along, belly low to the floor, he couldn’t help but ponder his situation. More accurately, Patricia.

When Ricky was first confronted by the fact she’d seduced Stu, his initial anger had contained an element of hurt. Why choose the weaker wolf over him? Did she prefer a submissive male? Because, no matter the attraction or what his feline thought, Ricky wouldn’t roll over and bare his belly for anyone, not even his mate. Nor would he pretend to, not even to claim her. A man had his pride.
I earned my man card fair and square, and no cougar, no matter how hot, is going to make me give it up.

Despite the risk of antagonizing her, he stuck true to himself, telling her outright that he would claim her. He didn’t hide his domineering traits because that was who he was, take it or leave it.

Her arousal spiked, and an interesting thing became clear. Despite her attraction to Stu and his beta nature, she was also drawn to Ricky, especially when he attempted to dominate her.

No matter what she says, she likes it when I give her orders.
Her very scent gave it away. Perhaps fate wasn’t so crazy when it had chosen two men for the cougar. On the one hand, she craved power over a male, probably because of her day-to-day job. Stu, with his beta nature, would fit the bill or at least satisfy that craving. However, another part of her, a part she kept hidden from the world, needed a man to take charge, to pull the reins of control from her capable hands and remind her that she could rely on someone other than herself.
And that man is me. I will remind her she is a woman and that she doesn’t always have to be the one making decisions.

Seen in this light, it all made perfect sense. But would she accept it or continue to fight?

Given her seduction of Stu, and her capitulation to Ricky’s demands, he sensed she approached the tipping point. It wouldn’t take much to have her fall into his arms—and onto his dick. The question was, would he take advantage and mark her or, like the wolf had, grant her some leeway to accept her fate and agree to the mating on her own?

A decision he’d have to make later, or in the heat of the moment, because Patricia broke his train of thought with a whispered, “Kirkland’s cell is just up ahead. He’s a wolf like Stu. Quiet sort. In for drug trafficking, nothing violent. He shares his space with a human.” She paused to sniff the air. “I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary. What about you guys?”

Ricky shook his head, as did Stu, their animal shape preventing speech. Despite the lack of scent, Ricky pricked his ears, searching for any sounds out of the ordinary … but nothing jumped out.

This wing of the prison was fairly silent with only the rumbles and snorts of sleeping people to break the stillness. As a matter of fact, they were the noisiest things around. Their footsteps, the occasion scuff of her shoe, the soft pad of their furry feet screamed to him, but apparently weren’t loud enough to be heard over the steady snoring of the cell occupants, one of whom was the shifter they sought.

Patricia came to a halt before the bars, but there was nothing to see, attack, or do. Curled in a fetal position on his bunk, the wolf didn’t even twitch, despite the fact two predators stood outside the cell.

Then again, given he’d lived here almost three years, his senses had probably dulled. Ricky vowed to never let himself get that complacent. There was something unnerving about sneaking up on another shifter so easily. He would never want anyone to catch him so vulnerable.

Stu shifted to his man shape, man parts dangling. It irritated Ricky to see he had competition in that department.
So much for wowing her with my bigger dick.

Unheeding of his nakedness, Stu left them to check something out on the ceiling.

“What are you doing?” Patricia asked, echoing the question Ricky couldn’t utter while in his cat form.

“Checking for tampering with the camera. It’s dead like the others, but I see no sign of extra sabotage. No paint across the lens. No obstruction.” He grabbed the door separating this section from the next and gave it a tug. It didn’t move. “Door is still locked.”

“The other prisons didn’t show signs of damage to the cameras.”

“They also didn’t mention any outages, but in retrospect, I now have to wonder how many of them went down during the time frames in question.”

“Not all the prisons have surveillance systems of the cells in place. Some only have cameras in the common areas.”

“You said there was a technician working on the problem? Did he mention if it was a hardware or software problem?”

Patricia shrugged. “I don’t know, and I didn’t ask. Management told us they were down and probably would be for hours. That’s it.”

“Given the killer can’t be sure when the cameras will come back on line, and the fact we’re not seeing any signs of tampering, I’d say this guy is as safe as can be at the moment.”

“You really think so?”

“Not really. I just know that if I was the one planning anything, cameras down or not, I’d be putting some paint or tape across the lenses at the very least, just in case. Then again, it’s possible the attacker just hasn’t made it to this section yet. For all I know, the killer will strike as soon as we leave. Short of having someone on watch, we won’t really know. ” Stu lifted his shoulders in a helpless gesture.

“What are you suggesting? That I leave one of you behind to keep an eye?”

Ricky growled to show his disapproval. There was safety in numbers, especially given they didn’t know who or what they faced. Thankfully, Patricia agreed, else he might have had to butt heads with her again, the stubborn one, not the horny one.

“The killer doesn’t usually go after those with a roommate. I’d say this guy is safe for the moment. We should move on to the next one. He’s down in solitary.”

“How come? I thought he was a quiet guy,” Stu asked.